Skip to main content
Ελ

From Africa

Curated & Moderated by:
Anna-Kynthia Bousdoukou
Greece’s African communities were the starting point of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s (SNF) Dialogues event.
When
Thursday 16 May 2019, at 17:30
Where
Municipal Market of Kypseli in Athens
Dialoguers
Sotiris Mousouris Gerasimos Kouvaras Loretta Macauley Menelaos Karamaghiolis Nikos Odubitan Asteris Huliaras
Live
Geography
Environment

The event, which took place at the Municipal Market of Kypseli in Athens, featured guest speakers Sotiris Mousouris, Chairman of the Hellenic-African Chamber of Commerce & Development; Gerasimos Kouvaras, General Director of ActionAid Greece; Loretta Macauley, Founder of the United African Women Organization; Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Film Director, Producer, and Screenwriter; Nikos Odubitan, Managing Director of Generation 2.0. for Rights Equality and Diversity; and Asteris Huliaras, Professor of Comparative Politics & International Relations at the University of the Peloponnese.

The discussion addressed issues related to efforts to promote the social integration of African communities in Greece, issues of Greek citizenship for second-generation immigrants, as well as of racism and xenophobia, and the right of Afro-Greeks, as some describe themselves, to dream of a better future with equal employment opportunities. The discussion also ventured beyond Greece to address questions related to the diverse African continent, including the absence of an official Greek political agenda with reference to African states and the constraints that can mire improvements in their quality of life in spite of economic development.

Sotiris Mousouris on From Africa

Loretta Macauley on From Africa

Asteris Huliaras & Gerasimos Kouvaras on From Africa

Anna-Kynthia Bousdoukou on From Africa

Nikos Odubitan on From Africa

Participant from audience on From Africa

The discussion also included the screening of a documentary by Menelaos Karamagiolis made specifically for the event. Its central heroes are members of the African community from Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Ghana who are currently living and growing up in the neighborhood of Kypseli.

A dance set by DJ Menzi & ATH KIDS followed, giving participants a taste of the Summer Nostos Festival coming up in June.

The SNF Dialogues are curated and moderated by Anna-Kynthia Bousdoukou.

*The opinions expressed by the SNF Dialogues participants, whether representing officially institutions and organizations or themselves, are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) or iMEdD. Speakers’ remarks are made freely, without prior guidance or intervention from the team.